"This..."

Faced with Wu Dao’s reprimand, Zhao Jianji’s thick-skinned face flushed with embarrassment. He scratched his head and said, "To answer you, Senior, this young one is twenty-six."

"I’m nineteen, you’re twenty-six. You’re calling me Senior? Have you no shame? One more word of nonsense and I’ll shatter your skull!"

After this cold warning, Wu Dao said no more. If they were out in the wild, he would have ripped the man’s tongue out.

As for being nineteen...

He wasn’t lying. After achieving Introspection with his mind, his understanding of the human body naturally allowed him to know this body’s exact age.

Nineteen...

’My, oh my,’ Zhao Jianji’s eye twitched. ’I, Zhao, am already pretty thick-skinned, but I never thought I’d meet someone more shameless than me.’

’Since when is a nineteen-year-old youth nine feet tall, with a back like a tiger and a waist like a bear, arms wide enough for a horse to run on, and built like an Ancient Fierce Beast?’

However...

Faced with Wu Dao’s warning...

Zhao Jianji didn’t dare say another word. He obediently turned around and stood properly.

The hierarchy in the Jianghu was strict. If he truly offended a Cocoon-Breaking Realm expert with his mere Divine Power cultivation, he wouldn’t even know how he died.

With Zhao Jianji no longer chattering away...

Wu Dao found some peace and quiet. He followed the flow of people entering the city, and half an hour later, he finally paid the entrance fee and stepped through the magnificent city gates.

Upon entering the city...

Wu Dao wasn’t in a hurry to go to the White Whale Martial Arts Hall, as the so-called Hero Assembly would only begin tomorrow.

He first found an inn and booked a room. After eating and drinking his fill, he, like the other Jianghu Travelers, took a good look around Lancang City, getting a real taste of the Exotic Realm’s local color.

It had to be said...

Lancang City’s scale was truly massive.

Wu Dao ambled about, and after several hours of walking, he still hadn’t seen it all.

The streets crisscrossed in every direction, bustling with people and carriages. Commercial buildings stood in great numbers, and massive residential areas stretched out in vast swaths. From time to time, he would also pass by enormous, heavily guarded private manors.

Along the way...

He would occasionally see patrols from the White Whale Martial Arts Hall maintaining order, seemingly having completely replaced the official authorities.

However, it was precisely because of the White Whale Martial Arts Hall’s control that the overall atmosphere within Lancang City was not much different from a time of peace and prosperity.

Of course, that was assuming...

You ignored the swarms of refugees wandering outside the city walls like Evil Ghosts.

「As the great sun sank below the western horizon.」

Wu Dao had grown tired of wandering and seeing the sights.

After inquiring about the prices of some precious medicinal herbs at a few pharmacies controlled by the White Whale Martial Arts Hall, he got the information he needed and returned to the inn to quietly await the next day’s assembly.

「The next day.」

"DONG DONG DONG—"

As the Golden Crow broke the dawn, loud bells chimed from the Inner City.

Within Lancang City...

Jianghu Travelers from all corners of the land were rubbing their hands in anticipation, their fighting spirits high. They all headed toward the vast training ground in the Inner City, eager to make a name for themselves.

In this day and age...

The White Whale Martial Arts Hall was the absolute authority in the northern part of Guangqing Prefecture. Anyone who could latch onto this great tree was not only guaranteed a bright future, but they could also walk through the Jianghu with their backs straight, a cut above the rest.

Not to mention...

With chaotic times approaching, it would be difficult to stay out of trouble when the great winds blew. In such a situation, having a powerful backer to provide shelter would give one a bit more confidence, would it not?

For all these reasons...

The Hero Assembly hosted by the White Whale Martial Arts Hall this time was a grand affair. The participating Jianghu People came from all walks of life, and their strengths were a motley crew.

Wu Dao followed the stream of people forward, occasionally spotting renowned Divine Power masters along the way.

Occasionally...

He would also see a few Cocoon-Breaking Realm masters with extraordinary temperaments, treated like rare pandas and surrounded by admirers.

But Wu Dao merely glanced at them before losing interest. At best, they were a notch stronger than Mr. Ya. Their strength was quite limited.

They were nothing like the two spear-carrying middle-aged men he had encountered yesterday. They were also in the Cocoon-Breaking Realm, but Wu Dao couldn’t ’see’ through their depths at all.

With that comparison...

He estimated those two were either at the Peak of Second Rebirth or had even reached Transforming Force. He didn’t know what business brought them to Lancang City, but he didn’t see them among the crowd heading to the Hero Assembly.

After entering the Inner City...

They soon arrived before a thick, towering, and heavily guarded wall. Through a series of large gates, one could see massive white-stone training grounds. Banners snapped in the wind, and several black-stone martial arts stages had already been set up.

This was the headquarters of the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.

If one were to look down from a high vantage point, they would see that beyond the Martial Arts Training Ground lay an interconnected expanse of pavilions, courtyards, ponds, and hills, all arranged in an elegant, sprawling layout. It was truly a city within a city.

Upon arriving here...

Under the direction of the White Whale Martial Arts Hall staff, the crowd began to be sorted according to their strength and guided into different training grounds.

There was no need for any tests.

Masters from the White Whale Martial Arts Hall, representing every realm, were stationed at the gates. Their sharp eyes could discern an entrant’s strength at a single glance.

Guarding the Cocoon-Breaking Realm training ground...

Was a white-haired old man with a collapsed nose, carrying a wine Gourd. His old face was flushed red, yet his eyes showed not a hint of cloudiness, perfectly fitting Wu Dao’s stereotype of a hidden master.

"Skull-Breaking Hand Black Pupil, you’re quite something. However, it’s best to return what isn’t yours, and soon."

When it was finally Wu Dao’s turn to enter, the old man seemed to know his information like the back of his hand. After taking a sip of wine, he squinted his eyes and spoke in a meaningful tone.

His sinister tone made it seem like he held a grudge against Wu Dao.

’Someone from the Elder Council?’

’Elder Qin?’

Upon hearing this, Wu Dao understood. His footsteps paused for a moment. He turned his head, glanced at the old man, and said with a chuckle:

"When you get old, you should drink less. If you ’accidentally’ end up a corpse on the roadside one day, that would be a terrible shame!"

Ever since he had killed that group of bandits at the Bridge Entrance, Wu Dao knew he had offended someone in the White Whale Martial Arts Hall Elder Council.

Therefore...

Ever since he entered the city...

He had been hiding his true strength, not only suppressing his vital energy but also retracting his Spirit Armor completely into his body.

To outsiders...

He would only appear to be an ordinary Harmonizing Force Martial Artist.

The goal...

Was to lure out the Elder Qin who was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

If he didn’t hide his power...

With his strength, which was comparable to the Second Rebirth realm, it would only be a matter of time before he became a core figure in the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.

No matter how stupid that Elder Qin was, he wouldn’t dare to openly retaliate. He would only resort to dirty tricks in the shadows.

An open attack is easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow is hard to defend against!

Wu Dao never entrusted his life to luck, nor was he the kind of simple-minded fool who would offend someone and then meekly wait for them to plot against him before fighting back.

Rather than live in constant fear...

It was better to take the initiative, find the potential danger in advance, and crush it in its cradle!

This had always been Wu Dao’s personal creed.

What he hadn’t expected, however... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Was that Elder Qin’s hatred for him was so great that he would expose himself by blocking the gate. This actually saved him a lot of effort.

"Heh heh, youth is a wonderful thing. So many days left to live."

Hearing the barb in Wu Dao’s words, the old man didn’t get angry. He just took a slow sip of wine, as if to say, ’Let’s play this game slowly.’

This old man...

Was indeed the Elder Qin mentioned by the bandit leader yesterday. Upon learning that his money-making path had been cut off, he was filled with uncontrollable rage.

That was why he had snatched this assignment.

He wanted to see just what kind of monster Wu Dao was to dare to lay a hand on his business.

And now, seeing him today...

He was just a Harmonizing Force practitioner, yet his tone was so arrogant. He must have the audacity of a bear and the gall of a leopard!

One must know...

He had spent a considerable amount of resources and effort to secretly cultivate that group of thugs. They were no different from his right-hand men and had ’earned’ him countless Silver Coins over the years.

But just yesterday...

Wu Dao had slaughtered his right-hand men, leaving not a single one alive!

Cutting off a person’s source of income is no different from killing their parents!

If not for Elder Qin’s excellent Heart Cultivation Skill, which made him a snake that bites from the shadows, he would have erupted in a vengeful fury the very first moment he saw Wu Dao!